In Presentacion de dos textos de Norbert Elias (Introduction to Two Texts by Norbert Elias), Ramon Ramos Torre (U Complutense de Madrid, E-28049 Spain) & Helena Bejar introduce two works by Norbert Elias, suggesting that the articles are characteristic of Elias & underscore the presence & importance of literature in his sociology. The articles make clear his conception of the role of sociologist as distant observer, & exemplify the presence of the biographical & personal in his sociology. (...) In El destino de la lirica alemana de barroco. Entre la tradicion cortesana y la tradicion burgesa ([The Destiny of the Baroque German Lyric. Between the Courtly Tradition and the Bourgeois Tradition] originally published in Merkur, 1987, 41, 6), Elias analyzes baroque art & the subsequent classicism within the framework of the "courtly society." In this society, transnational & cosmopolitan aristocracy held power; the bourgeoisie were displaced or integrated in prestigious courtly circles. This framework explains the sensitivities toward polite language, gallantry, & humorous ingenuity in baroque literature. M. Pflum

Source: Sociological Abstracts Inc.